Protests have grown in recent days against plans by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, to develop luxury properties on an ecologically sensitive portion of the Albanian coast.
The protests, in the capital and in coastal towns, have become a lightning rod for widespread discontent in Albania, long one of Europe’s poorest countries. Another protest was planned for Tuesday night in Tirana, the capital.
For years, the plans — a $1.4 billion luxury hotel complex on an island off the coast and another development on a peninsula that is home to sensitive wetlands — have generated concerns about conservation and transparency.
Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania has repeatedly described the projects as a chance to expand the country’s booming tourist economy and to attract foreign investors.
On Tuesday, Mr. Rama said in a post on social media that the projects represented “the ambition to create the most attractive destination of this side of the Mediterranean.”
He has rejected suggestions by opponents of the plan that Mr. Kushner, who is one of several investors in the project, received preferential treatment to curry favor with his father-in-law, Mr. Trump.
The White House referred questions to Mr. Kushner’s investment firm, Affinity Partners, which has been backed mostly with funding from the Saudi Arabian government. Affinity Partners referred questions to Sazan Real Estate Development LLC, the developer for both the Albanian projects.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to create a world-class destination and make one of the largest private investments in the region’s history,” Asher Abehsera, the chairman of Sazan, the projects’ developer, said in a statement.
He said their focus included “responsible stewardship” of the environment.
Not everyone in Albania agrees.
Article from The New York Times read it here.